my grandkids are required to hand over their phones every night to “recharge” in mom’s room. Also my daughter and her husband set up the accounts and have all the passwords and check the phones every night. Also same thing with the ITouch for each of them.

So who of us is so perfect we haven’t done something like this as a teen? We didn’t have smart phones when I was a teenager but we did say a lot of nasty things about each other. It was always she said this about you and what do you say to this one? Same thing, different method these days.

The opinions of idiots SHOULD have no value. However, opinions of your peers, and sadly enough, sometimes of family members can do more permanent damage than if you were severely beaten. I know children who were told by their own parents that they were “stupid” and “will never amount to anything” or are “ugly” so often that they themselves began to believe it, leading to very low self esteem and a horribly skewed concept of self-worth. So, in fact, words CAN be very hurtful and harmful. How else do you explain so many of today’s children in mental therapy or committing suicide because of the “words” of bully’s?